Last March, my mother and I launched www.fpcv.org. Since then, we have been awed by the number of visitors to the site and the responses to it. We thank all of you for your many comments in the guest book, emails, offers of help, and words of support. We are so touched that so many people care and believe in the idea of a memorial to Peace Corps Volunteers who died during their service - a memorial so that some may remember FPCVs they knew and loved and others may be inspired by their examples.

As we have progressed this past year toward our own goals, the Peace Corps has received much political and media attention. Both our current president and his opponent have spoken of increasing the size of the Peace Corps dramatically. Committees in the Senate and the House are scheduled to hear issues related to the safety of volunteers later this month. May this attention help to ensure a stronger organization, safer volunteers, and perhaps even draw attention to the importance of honoring those volunteers who died in service and the potential impact a memorial could have in inspiring others to serve.

There are two sayings I know held meaning for my brother, and now hold much meaning for me. The first is, "A thousand mile journey begins with a single step." He had the Chinese characters for "first step" tattooed behind his left shoulder shortly before leaving for the Peace Corps. The second I found written in the margin of a page in the daybook he kept while in Niger. "Patience milks the un-milkable cow." So, we thank you for your patience as we continue our journey toward our common goal of celebrating these amazing individuals and honoring the peace and international understanding they gave their lives for.

Sincerely,

Chelsea Mack

cmack@fpcv.org

If you haven't visited the site recently, you may wish to read about FPCVs Peter Wolfe and John Parrott, whose families found the site and added their voices.

If you knew an FPCV or are able to connect us with the family of a fallen volunteer, please contact us at webmaster@fpcv.org.

Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: The Fallen Peace Corps Volunteers Memorial Project

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; Obituaries

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